I never saw this movie in the theater. And for the longest time since it’s DVD release I have avoided the movie, purely because of all the horrible reviews and comments from others. If this sounds like you as well…then read on, you may be surprised.
I’ll start by saying I am a huge fan of the series. Before watching the film I knew there would be no way to fully bring the entire first book (season) into a single film. But I’m happy to say that all the most important character and plot elements are in the film. What can’t be shown due to time constraints is said…but it’s not over done.
The film itself looks beautiful. A real gem of cinematography. It captures the world of the Benders perfectly, very very close to the animated series. The acting, while it won’t win any awards was still good enough to draw me in.
And now back to the story…it all felt a little too rushed. I could tell M. Night wanted to get in as much of the story as the studio would allow….I felt the voice over sequences of Katara explaining things really did help without going too overboard. One thing I noticed (and this could explain why many didn’t like it) is that the film felt very much like a foreign film. Partly because the asian spiritual elements of the series were kept in the film (the moon and ocean spirits in the form of fish for example), but also in the pacing and direction of the story. As a fan of foreign films, especially Chinese and Japanese films…I felt right at home and had no trouble following a long with the story. On a side note, I would have preferred more screen time for Appa and Momo, but time constraints limited their appearances.
Over all, I greatly enjoyed the film and learned that just because people say it’s a bad movie…doesn’t always mean it is. I think the film is completely misunderstood and perhaps not “Americanized” enough for some to enjoy.